The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 30, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 24, 2006
Fuyuki Maehara, Nagoya, JP;
Kazuyuki Watanabe, Takahama, JP;
Fuyuki Maehara, Nagoya, JP;
Kazuyuki Watanabe, Takahama, JP;
Denso Corporation, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
A control apparatus for a vehicle generator includes a switch, a regulator, a fault condition detector, and a PWM signal generator. The switch is selectively turned on and off so as to intermittently excite the generator. The regulator controls on/off operation of the switch so as to bring an output of the generator into agreement with a target value. The fault condition detector detects a fault condition of the generator. The PWM signal generator generates and outputs a PWM signal that has a duty determined as a function of a duty of the on/off operation of the switch and a frequency determined based on if the fault condition of the generator is detected by the fault condition detector. Consequently, the control apparatus can inform an external control apparatus of the duty of the on/off operation of the switch and the fault condition of the generator with the single PWM signal.